Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

Synopsis

40,000 years ago in the mountains of prehistoric Eastern Europe, Napomel, a Neanderthal woman abandoned by her people, lives alone in a cave and speaks to the moon as if it were the only being left to answer her. On the edge of ending her life, she is interrupted by Ezum and Dwal, two starving Sapiens men who enter her cave in search of food and shelter.

Their first encounter is violent and animal-like, driven by hunger, fear and the inability to understand what the other is. But when Dwal lowers his weapon, a fragile trust begins to form. Around the fire, through touch, food and the first exchange of words, Napomel and Dwal begin to recognize each other as human, while Ezum grows increasingly disturbed by the bond forming between them.

As tensions inside the cave escalate, violence erupts and forces the group apart. When Ezum is later gravely wounded, the two men return to the cave seeking Napomel’s help. Faced with death, grief and isolation, Napomel and Dwal are forced to confront what separates them and what might still connect them across fear, loneliness and the boundaries of human existence.

Production Facts

Director & scriptwriter: Dunja Vujovic
Producer: Goran Kapetanovic

Produced by Pushing Paper AB in co-production with Film i Väst, and with support by the Swedish Film Institute and Lindholmen Science Park.

Cast: Alexandra Nordberg, Hamza Kader, Suheib Saleh